CDA considers expulsion Sywert van Lienden | Inland

“A CDA member has submitted a request for expulsion,” a party spokesman said. “This will be handled with the usual care.”

Answers to parliamentary questions show that in April last year, when there was a crying scarcity of protective equipment for healthcare providers worldwide, Van Lienden used his contacts within the CDA to get to the Ministry of Health. He had set up a non-profit foundation, Auxiliary Troops Alliance, which involved cooperation with KLM, Randstad and Coolblue. Ultimately, Van Lienden and his associates supplied 40 million mouth caps, for which the government paid more than 100 million euros. The items were ‘of good quality and at a ‘reasonable price’, Minister Van Ark (Medical Care) reported to the House of Representatives. Just before the payment, Van Lienden founded a company, Relief Goods Alliance. The money went to the company, not the foundation.

The CDA member admitted to research platform Follow The Money on Monday that he earned 9 million euros with the delivery, and more than 5 million for his two partners each. Van Ark does not comment on a possible profit in her letter. She does write, however, that ‘the image that exorbitant profits would have been made from an international crisis is not a good one’.

According to FTM, Van Lienden set up a special corporate structure at the end of 2020, which experts say allowed him to hide assets. The other founders of the Auxiliary Troops Alliance, Bernd Damme and Camille van Gestel, have also set up such constructions to house their assets. In that of Van Lienden, called Duyfken CV, 9 million euros has been placed.

The ministry does not yet want to explain to what extent Van Lienden’s mouth caps were more expensive or cheaper than necessary.

It is up to the national board of the CDA to decide on the membership of Van Lienden. Such a decision is preceded by the advice of a special committee that examines whether the member has complied with the rules within the party. This concerns rules from both the articles of association and internal regulations and decisions of the party. Cancellation is also possible if the party is disadvantaged ‘unreasonably’.

–